"Stroke Alert!" Screening Program Detects Thousands At Risk Each Year

Each morning, as we get ready to face the day, most of us do a number of things that we take for granted. We think nothing of the fact that we can brush our teeth, comb our hair or tie our shoes. But in the amount of time it takes a person to perform just one of these simple tasks, at least one person in the United States will have suffered a stroke. For the 4.6 million American stroke survivors alive today, the tasks that most of us take for granted can be a daily challenge. According to the American Stroke Association, a division of the American Heart Association, on average, someone has a stroke every 45 seconds. Each year, about 700,000 people suffer a new or recurrent stroke.

Every three minutes, someone dies of a stroke in the U.S. It is the third leading cause of death in this country behind diseases of the heart and cancer and a leading cause of serious, long-term disability. Stroke claims more than 160,000 lives each year. While the death rate from stroke declined 3.4 percent from 1991 to 2001, the actual number of stroke deaths increased by 7.7 percent.

Are you at risk for stroke? From May 20th - May 28th, 2004, the Ame-rican Stroke Association is offering Stroke Alert! a FREE stroke screening program for the public throughout New York City.

Everyone, regardless of gender or racial and ethnic background, should monitor his or her stroke risk. Nearly 2.7 million female stroke survivors are alive today. Each year, about 40,000 more women than men have a stroke. Women account for more than 61 percent of all stroke deaths. More than 100,000 women die each year from stroke. African-American women are particularly at risk. Africa Americans have almost twice the risk of first-ever stroke compared with whites. African- Americans are also much more suscep-tible to high blood pressure, a major risk factor for stroke.

Stroke warning signs can sometimes be subtle and are not associated with pain like some of the warning signs of a heart attack such as "crushing chest pain." But, missing the warning signs of stroke may put your senses, speech and memory in danger in a matter of minutes. During American Stroke Month, the American Stroke Associa-tion emphasizes: "Time Lost is Brain Lost. Know the Warning Signs and Don’t Delay. Call 9-1-1 Immediately!"

Warning signs of stroke include sudden numbness or weakness of the face, arm or leg, especially on one side of the body; sudden confusion, trouble speaking or understanding; sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes; sud-den trouble walking, dizziness, loss of balance or coordination; and sudden severe headache with no known cause.

Risk factors for stroke that can be controlled include high blood pressure, smoking, elevated cholesterol Levels, obesity, physical inactivity and diabetes. Uncontrollable risk factors in-clude age, gender, face/ethnicity, family history, prior stroke or TIS (ministroke). Stroke Alert! Risk assessments will educate the public about stroke, its warn-ing signs and risk factors, and preventive steps to minimize a person’s risk of stroke. Call 1-888-4-STROKE (1-888-478-7653) to find a Stroke Alert!

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